Last post of 2015!  I wasn’t sure I’d ever get them all done, so I’m considering it a bookish miracle.  Now to get actually up to date…

1. Trial By Fire – Jennifer Lynn Barnes.  A really good follow-up to Raised By Wolves.  After becoming Alpha, Bryn now has to actually be one.  The sense of pack is just as strong as in the first book, and Bryn is a compelling character.  If you’re into werewolves, I highly recommend this trilogy.
2. Taken By Storm – Jennifer Lynn Barnes.  See above.
3. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows – Alan Bradley. For December, I decided I’d only read Christmas-themed books, which is why I picked this up (Trial By Fire and Taken By Storm were requested by someone else at the library so they interrupted the plan somewhat).  The problem is that I’m still not sure whether or not I like Flavia, the main character in this series.  I enjoyed the plot in this more than the last title I read in the series, and I loved the idea of Flavia setting a trap for Santa, but I just found it all a bit difficult to believe, and that’s mostly because of Flavia herself.  I get that she’s really, really smart, but it’s hard to reconcile that with her age.  I don’t know, I remain frustrated!
4. The Hundred and One Dalmations – Dodie Smith.  I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read this book.  It was such a delightful, wonderful read!  The writing style appealed to me immensely, the plot was gorgeous, the Christmas aspects were festive, and the illustrations in the version I read were super, super cute.  Read this if you haven’t already – you won’t regret it.

1. Skipping Christmas – John Grisham.  If you can put aside the really bizarre seam of bullying that runs right through this, this was an easy, fun festive read.  The Kranks decide not to celebrate Christmas so they can spend the money on a really good holiday, but it’s not as easy as just saying that you’re not going to do Christmas this year…
2. 12 Days – Shelley Silas (ed.).  This short story collection takes The Twelve Days of Christmas and retells each day, which sounds lovely, but most of the stories are dark as fuck.  There are one or two that are lighter or a bit more magical, but the darkness of the rest soured the whole collection for me.
3. Another Night Before Christmas – Carol Ann Duffy & Rob Ryan / The Christmas Truce – Carol Ann Duffy & David Roberts.  These are illustrated Christmas poems by Carol Ann Duffy and they’re beautiful.  Another Night Before Christmas was probably my favourite as I’m a Rob Ryan fan, but I’d recommend both.

1. The Chalet School Christmas Story Book – Ruth Jolly (ed.).  I’ve had this since it came out in 2007 and only got around to reading it now – shameful!  I really enjoyed this mix of Christmas-themed stories by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer herself and by fans.  The Chalet School is always good for putting you in a festive mood.
2. A Paris Christmas – John Baxter. This is a foodie memoir that was an easy read, and quite enjoyable, but the blurb did make it sound like he hadn’t expected to have to make Christmas dinner for a French family, which wasn’t anywhere near the truth.
3. Silent in the Sanctuary – Deanna Raybourn.  A good Victorian-era Christmas mystery, with fun, if slightly unbelievable, characters and an antagonistic romance.  There were some jarring moments where I felt it couldn’t possibly have been written by a British person (and it hadn’t been) but overall I enjoyed it.
4. Silent on the Moore – Deanna Raybourn.  So much so that I downloaded the next one on my Kindle (the last having come from a library book sale).  I enjoyed the claustrophobic setting of this one, but Brisbane, the love interest, was just ridiculous throughout.  I get that the main character loves him, but it really didn’t seem worth it for most of the story!

1. Dark Road to Darjeeling – Deanna Raybourn.  The plot of this one was ever so slightly ridiculous (which I suppose is part of the charm of this series), but I enjoyed the detail of British life in India, and I still like pretty much all of the characters, no matter how unlikely they are.
2. The Dark Enquiry – Deanna Raybourn.  The seance storyline was fun, but I found Brisbane’s attitude towards Julia working with him hard to swallow, no matter how historically accurate it might have been.
3. Midsummer Night / Silent Night / Twelfth Night / Bonfire Night – Deanna Raybourn.  Four short stories set between various novels in the Lady Julia Grey series.  At least one of them was Christmas themed, since I had absolutely abandoned my plan to only read Christmas-related books by this point!
4. Silent in the Grave – Deanna Raybourn.  And after that, I finally went back and read the first book in the series 😀  It was quite interesting, actually, to see Julia in her old life.  I was used to her being a spirited, unstoppable woman, but this version of her is very different indeed.